Hops
by doctoring
Summary: It's bad enough that Kevin is sick, but now Edd knows his secret. Kevin still sometimes sleeps with a stuffed animal, namely his bunny, Hops. But this moment of illness and embarrassment might work in his favor.
1. Hiding Hops

When Kevin turned eight, his Nana gave him a stuffed animal. A little white bunny he named Hops. (Hey, he was eight, that's the best he could come up with at the time.) He was super attached to the toy rabbit until around the age of 12, when he realized that cool kids don't sleep with stuff animals. So, Hops stayed in the back of his top dresser drawer for a few years.

When Kevin was 15, he contracted bronchitis, and Hops found himself tucked under Kevin's arm for a few days. Even when Kevin had gotten better, he still kept Hops on his bed or his nightstand, and only hid Hops when friends came over. Sometimes he'd bring Hops back out immediately, sometimes it would take a few days or weeks. He wasn't completely attached like when he was eight, when he would be tempted to bring it to sleepovers, but Kevin still finds comfort in the stuffed animal.

However, he's 17 now, a junior in high school, will be the captain for the football team next year, and has a reputation to uphold. This is why Kevin wants to keep Hops a secret; he doesn't want anyone to know he still holds him as he sleeps whenever he's having a rough night or feels sick.

And he's doing that right now. Spring semester just started and he's feeling just awful. There's a cold going around at school because people don't know how to keep their germs to themselves. He's currently curled up in bed, cuddling it, and wishing that he wasn't missing baseball conditioning for the third day in a row.

He snuggled into the bunny, nuzzling it, before he plants a quick kiss to Hops' nose. He does this sometimes, and he is never sure why. _Maybe because he's just really soft?_

As soon as pressed the bunny back to his chest, he hears a sound and bolts up. Edd is there holding a tray with a folder under his arm. You can barely see his face because of the black hat and the medical face mask, but he can still see Edd's eyes, and the look of terror they hold. The kind that says they know they've seen something they shouldn't have and that there will be consequences. Severe ones.

Kevin tries to subtly tuck the bunny under the comforter, but he knows the damage is done. _Maybe if I don't address the problem, Edd will realize that not opening his mouth is the best option right now._ Kevin pushes the bunny further under the covers as he pushes himself upright, trying his best to make it look like a natural motion.

"The hell you're doing here dork?"

"I, um, I was just dropping off your missed classwork and homework," Edd gestured awkwardly with the arm that had a folder pinned under it. "And your mother sent me up her with this," Edd placed the tray on Kevin's night stand, "so you can get some food into your system before your next dose of medicine."

Kevin glanced at the tray, and the tiny hint of appetite he might have had disappeared as soon as he smelled the soup. It wasn't that it smelled bad, but he's still in the nausea portion of the cold, so everything edible is unappealing at the moment. So, Kevin makes the terrible decision to bypass the food and just reaches for the medicine instead.

"Kevin, I think you really ought to-"

Kevin waves him off as he dry-swallows the pills, chokes a little while regretting his last action, and then drinks half the glass of water as best as he can.

"So, am I going to flunk the 11th grade?" Kevin jokes, as he halfhearted points at the folder.

Edd rolls his eyes. "I don't think missing two and a half class days will set you back that much. As far as I can tell, this will be your biggest problem in terms of catching up."

Edd starts to pull out a paper, but with where he's standing, Kevin can't really see, and it hurts to strain his neck. As Kevin scoots up to rest against the headboard, he gestures for Edd to sit on the edge of the bed.

Edd hesitantly sits, but once he does, he bolts up immediately. Before Kevin can register what is going on, Edd had reached under the covers, pulled out Hops whom he had apparently sat on, and then reaches over Kevin to tuck Hops into bed against the other pillow Kevin wasn't currently using. As Edd finished up by straightening out Hops' floppy ears behind him and patting him three times on the head, Kevin felt a whirlwind of emotions.

Edd had not only seen the rabbit but immediately knew it was important to Kevin, tucking it in like that. He was so embarrassed, but also a little touched. He was a little upset that Edd had touched Hops. No one else has touched Hops since Kevin was around nine or ten. Hops was sacred like that, and Edd had touched him. But in doing so, Edd was leaning over Kevin, far too close, and Kevin couldn't help but feel a tightness in his chest, just like he felt every time Edd would interact with him back during their freshman year, when Kevin's crush on him was at its peak.

While try to sort and suppress these emotions, Edd had apparently started talking about each of Kevin's missed assignments one by one, and Kevin hadn't noticed until Edd had to stop talking suddenly in order to read the next missed assignment, since it was from a class they didn't share.

Kevin tried his hardest to listen and pay attention to what he missed, especially since Edd was giving pseudo-answers at times, but it was harder than paying attention in school. For one, Kevin was sick and on meds. The room would occasional spin, or dim, or just get hazy. For another thing, none of Kevin's teachers were adorable.

_Adorable? Fuck. Am I into him again? I mean, I haven't seen him this upclose for a long while. I guess he's still adorable, but kinda grown into himself? Still a dork though. And judging by the way he interacts with Nazz he's either straight and clueless, or asexual and not sure how to tell her to back off. But still… adorkable. Heh._

Soon, Edd starts to snag a few saltines from Kevin's food tray, but each time he does, he grabs two, handing one to Kevin. Kevin smiled at the way Edd would have to pull down his mask to eat, but promptly pull it back up after he swallows.

As soon as Edd was finished explaining all the missed lessons and assignments Kevin needed to make up, he picks up the bowl of soup, hands it to Kevin, and then places the folder of classwork on the tray where the bowl once was. They started talking about what social occurrences Kevin had missed while sick, and started joking around, like they did before they drifted apart in 10th grade, when extracurriculars consumed most of their time.

At one point, Kevin realized that he wanted to dunk a cracker into his soup, but instead of grabbing it himself, he was waiting for Edd to grab another pair and hand him one.

"Dude. Did you just trick me into eating?"

Edd shrugged and said, "Perhaps," but even with the face mask, Kevin could tell there was a gap-toothed grin underneath.

Kevin just glared at him as Edd took another two crackers off the tray, handing one to Kevin. When Edd pulled down his face mask to eat his saltine, Kevin saw the grin get bigger, as if suppressing a giggle, and he couldn't help himself. He laughed at the situation, and just continued to eat.

They continued to talk more after Kevin ate as much as he could stomach, but Kevin had a hard time keeping up with the conversation, and keeping his eyes opened the whole time. He could feel the sandman coming for him once again.

Edd coerced him to lay down flat instead of leaning against the headboard, and that was a huge mistake. Kevin wanted to keep up this pleasant talk with Edd, still as adorable and caring as ever, but he can't fight for much longer. He just laid down right into the grasp of sleep itself, and now he must submit. Kevin lets out a deep, content sigh, and rolls on his side, closer to Edd. He snuggles down into his bed, holding onto his pillow.

Edd slowly starts to stand. "I'm just going to clean up a little and then see myself out. I hope you get enough rest and feel better soon."

There was a bit of delay between Kevin's slow nodding and his mumbled, "Me too, dork."

Kevin lets his eyes fall shut, but they shoot back open when he feels Edd leaning over him. Edd grabs Hops and then gently lifts one of Kevin's arm, placing Hops underneath. Kevin pulled Hops closer to himself, while trying to roll over more in the hopes of hiding his growing blush.

"I hope you're not judging me for this," Kevin whispers, knowing that Edd had an understanding look on his face, but still nervous about the situation.

He believes he sees Edd shaking his head "no" just before he closes his eyes again, ready for sleep.

But sleep doesn't come immediately. The medicine only made his body ready for sleep, but his mind was still trying to be active. Kevin can hear Edd still in his room for a while. His tired and sick brain trying to figure out what was going on since Kevin was too weak to open his eyes again.

_Maybe he's tidying. I think he did say something like that._

_Sounds like he stacking the tray back up… and now he's moving papers around. Did I have papers? Wait… the folder… maybe that?_

_And… the door… the door… Guess he's gone now..._

_Well, no point in staying if I'm asleep… Or I will be… hopefully…_

_Fuck I hate being sick… This is almost as bad as-_

_Fuck, what just happened… the bed just dipped and-_

_FUCK that's cold!... Fuck! Wait… feels good… guess Edd got a cold towel for by forehead… choice…_

_Wait… that's Edd's voice… _

Kevin strained to listen, but he was steadily losing the fight against sleep.

"You really need to take better care of yourself…"

_Oh great… now he's judging me… _

_But he's running his hands through my hair… no… just pushing it back from my forehead… still feels good… _

_Wait… is he touching Hops again?_

"And don't worry about me judging you for your little friend here. I'm not judging you, certainly not… I guess I'm just a little jealous… of the bunny… that's all."

_The fuck does that mean?_

_THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?_

Kevin suddenly had all the energy in the world and a million questions, but this was all internal. He wanted to ask, wanted to know, but sleep picked an awful time to finally take over.


	2. Fever

But the slumber didn't last long. Within a few minutes, Kevin was stirring. He opened his eyes and Edd was still sitting on the edge of the bed. He slowly sat upright, Edd turning to him, still holding a cold towel. As Kevin moved, he dislodged Hops from his location, making him tumble to the ground.

"Dude! Hops!"

They both just stared at the rabbit on the floor, and Edd slowly brought terrified eyes up to Kevin. He only squeaked out an "oh my" before bolting from the bed and out Kevin's door.

Kevin stumbles out of bed, taking a second to toss Hops back onto the bed, before grabbing his Letterman and attempting to rush after Edd as best as his sick body would allow. As he makes it to the front door, he sees Edd already crossing the street, heading towards his house.

"Dork! Wait up! I just want to talk!"

Edd freezes and looks over his shoulders as Kevin jogs up to him. As soon as they lock eyes, Edd makes a mad dash for his home, but in doing so, he gets down on all fours and starts hopping like a rabbit being pursued.

Kevin halts.

His dreams, if he has them and remembers them, are usually realistic and probable. He knows he's dreaming now, albeit a fever dream. But the thing about dreams is that regardless if they're fever induced or not, being aware of them is not enough to wake from them.

He finds himself chasing after Edd again, all the way to Edd's front door, which slams shut just before he gets there. He bangs on the door while shouting "Open up dork! I just want to talk!"

Kevin calms down a little, and knocks instead. "C'mon, man, can we just talk about this?"

He pauses, leaning his forehead against the cool door, trying to steady himself during a wave of dizziness. _Good going, running like this when you're still sick_.

Then Kevin hears shuffling on the other-side of the door, just before Edd's soft voice saying, "Kevin, I promise I will not tell a soul if you please just spare me."

Kevin stands upright and just stares at the door for a moment. "The hell? Dude. It's not like that! I swear! I don't care that you saw Hops. Seriously. It's… it's something else…"

"Something else?"

"Yeah…"

There's a pause, but the door still hasn't opened.

"What is this 'something else' that you speak of?"

_For fuck's sake, dork! Just open up!_

Kevin sighs. "Did you mean what you said about being jealous of the bunny?"

The property starts rising, sloping upwards. Kevin finds himself on an incline, slowly slipping from the front steps and onto the walkway that leads to Edd's door. However, the walkway he's on starts moving away from the house.

He tries running towards the door, yelling, "Edd! Make it stop! Just let me in!"

Kevin is panting and running, but to no avail. He's not falling back further, but he's not making progress either.

"Edd! Please! I just want to talk about it! That's all!"

Kevin starts to slow down from exhaustion, his sick body unable to maintain a normal running pace.

With one last burst of energy he tries to sprint and shouts, "Fine! If you don't want to talk, just let me hold you!"

As he sprints against the moving walkway, he realizes too late that it has suddenly stopped moving. He stumbles as he propels himself towards the front door, slamming into it.

Edd's meek voice permeates the door. "A-are you serious? What kind of joke is this!?"

Kevin pulls himself upright and wipes away the blood from his split lip. He leans against the door. "Yeah. I am. So please, just let me in."

His request was only answered with a long silence.

"Edd, you don't have to talk to me right now if you don't want to. Just please at least let me in."

It was then that Kevin realized the silence wasn't just from Edd, but from all of the cul-de-sac. There was no other sounds, like the chirping of the birds.

"Edd?"

"Edd!"

"Edd, c'mon man."

"Please?"

"…Edd?"

"Edd! Edd, you still there?"

"Hush honey, Edd's gone."

"Huh? Edd's gone? But-"

"Yes, he left a while ago."

Kevin opens his eyes and sees his Ma hovering over him with a cold washcloth. He struggles to sit upright against his mother's protest. "Ma?"

"Yes, dear. Not Edd." She laughs to herself. "Did you have a nightmare?"

He nods but refuses to say anything else about it. He couldn't even make up some nonsense about monsters or anything. He was still confused over everything that just happened.

After she leaves to go warm him up some soup, he thinks about it some more.

_Did Edd really say that, or was it my hormones and this cold tag-teaming against me for a cruel joke? _

_Probably best if I didn't behave like my dream, and instead not push the issue, just in case._


	3. Returned Favor

That night, Kevin's fever breaks. He uses an entire box of Kleenex to clear out his sinuses. He goes into overdrive with the remedies, drinking throat coat tea with extra lemon and honey, using the eucalyptus tabs in the shower, taking his medicines precisely on time according to the package, using nasal sprays, and rubbing Vicks on his chest as he lays in bed.

By morning, he's finally strong enough to return to school. Though by the time he takes plenty of medicine and vitamin C, let his Ma take his temperature repeatedly, and finds the face mask Edd left for him, he doesn't arrive until the middle of his second class.

Because he was nowhere in time for the first class, he now has to wait for his last class in order to see Edd. But once the teacher begins the lesson, he realizes that Edd's not there.

Edd never misses class.

He struggles to wait for the class to end, and then rushes to find Ed after school.

"Yo, Lumpy! Where's the dork?"

"Kevin! I don't know what to do! Double D's not here and it's bad and I need to help him but I can't and-"

"Dude, stop flailing and tell me what's going on!" Kevin said, while dodging a familiar looking red folder that Ed was flapping around.

"Double D got sick and I was told to give him this," Ed said, while shoving the folder in Kevin's direction. "But I'm also supposed to go to the arcade with Eddy. I wanted to drop this off first, but Eddy is my ride and said he'll leave me if he misses the-"

"YOU COMIN' OR WHAT, LUMPY?"

Kevin turns and sees Eddy at the corner of the hall, dangling his keys. Ed literally starts whimpering, so Kevin snatches the folder from him.

"Go appease your shitty friend over there. I'll give this to Edd myself."

"Don't you have practice?"

"Not today, I can go straight to Edd's house and give him-"

Ed beamed and picked Kevin up, hugging him and spinning him around. Kevin couldn't help the blush he felt when he saw pointing and giggling as he was being placed back down on the ground rather ungracefully.

He waves as Ed starts shouting his goodbyes, being dragged down the hall by Eddy. Kevin places the folder in his bag, and heads to the bike rack.

He doesn't go straight to Edd's house though. He first parks his bike in his garage, and darts upstairs to his room. He grabs Hops and shoves him into his bookbag, then heads across the street to Edd's house.

When Edd opens the door, Kevin's heart drops. He still can't see much of Edd's face thanks to the medical mask and the hat, but his eyes looked so worn and exhausted. He was heavy lidded and pale.

"Hello, Kevin, I didn't expect-"

"Dude. I am so sorry I got you sick!"

Edd chuckled slightly before coughing. "I assure you, with the incubation period, it couldn't have been you who got me sick. I started feeling sick as soon as I left your home, which is way too soon for the cold to take hold. So, I probably had the cold for a day or two before it hit last night."

Kevin nodded and said he understood. (He didn't.)

Edd invited him in and tried to take Kevin's bag as he took off his shoes, but ended up dropping the bag.

"Dude. I got it. Let's get you back into bed."

As Kevin helped him up the stairs, Edd said, "I didn't see you in class this morning."

"Well, I didn't see you in our last… wait… you were in class this morning!?"

Edd nodded as he crawled back into bed, Kevin noticing the TV tray full of medicines, tissues, and a small humidifier next to the bed. "I went to school initially because I had two exams today. I left after lunch, so it doesn't count as an actual absence, meaning I can maintain my perfect attendance record."

_Of course that's what he was worried about._ "Way to find a loophole in the system, dork."

Kevin pulled out the missed assignments folder and looked at the handout inside, the same one he completed in class not too long ago. "Seems you've only missed US Gov. It was a just a worksheet, mostly vocab, so-"

"-the usual busy work," they said in unison, laughing afterwards.

"Mind putting it on the desk for me? We have a three-day weekend, so I have plenty of time to match 20 words and pretend that it actually counts as learning." Edd rolls his eyes and burrowed further under his covers.

"Dang, Edd, pretty snarky when you're sick." Kevin places the folder carefully in the center of the desk, making sure the bottom edge was aligned with the edge of the desk.

"I'm sorry. I'm just not feeling my best. I'm actually really tired."

"Nah, don't apologize. But I should probably let you sleep now. Do you need anything before I go?"

Edd shakes his head "no" but starts to get out of bed.

"Dude! What are you doing?"

"Well, I have to lock up after you go."

Kevin tries to gently ease him into bed. He frantically looks around the room until he sees it. Hanging from a nail in the wall by the door frame, were Edd's keys. Though the label above it read "HOUSE KEYS," Kevin still asked, "Are these the keys to your door?" as he grabbed the keys.

Edd nodded. "Yes. Why?"

Kevin pockets the keys. "I had planned on coming over frequently to check on ya, since I know you're currently home alone, and these," Kevin pats the pocket containing Edd's house keys, "will make it easier for me to do that, without you getting up every time."

Edd thinks for a moment, before saying, "I hardly think it's necessary for-"

"You're right. It's not necessary, but I still wanna do this, dork."

Edd looks down and start fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "I suppose that will allow me more rest while also decreasing the chances of something happening while I'm alone."

"Yup. So, do you need anything before I go? I'll be back after dinner, promise."

"No, I think I'll be fine until then."

"Choice. Now get some sleep," Kevin said as he tucked Edd back into bed.

Without further exchange of words, Kevin reached into his bag, and removed Hops. He places it haphazardly on the pillow next to Edd's face, but Edd's eyes remained closed. As he was closing the bedroom door behind him, Kevin glanced up and caught a glimpse of Edd slowly moving his hand up to Hops. _It's too late now. Here's hoping he doesn't say anything tonight when I returned._

And Edd doesn't. When Kevin returns after dinner to bring soup up to Edd, Hops was still on the pillow, but wasn't laying haphazardly anymore. At most, Edd must have straighten out the limbs and ears, but allowed the stuffed animal to stay there.

Kevin returned not long after to retrieve the dirty dishes, and to ensure that Edd had taken his medicine again. Though Edd didn't say anything, Kevin did notice that Hops was now on the other side of the bed, halfway under the cover.

The next morning when Kevin went to check on Edd, Kevin wasn't so lucky.

"So how are you feeling?"

"About the same. But, Kevin, I do have to ask… why did you leave this here?" Edd gestured to the rabbit propped onto the pillow next to him.

"Hops."

"Excuse me?"

"His name is Hops."

"Oh," Edd giggled. "Okay… why did you leave Hops here?"

Kevin shrugged, "I like to have him around when I'm sick, so I figured it would be a nice gesture to let you borrow him."

Edd just looks at Kevin, but judging by the shift in Edd's eyes, Kevin has a feeling there was a smile under that face mask. "I do see how this can help establish rapport and ease my recovery, but it seemed like Hops is very important to you, and I don't-"

"It's fine Edd. Not a big deal."

_This is totally a big deal. I don't trust anyone with even knowing that Hops exists, nonetheless letting someone hold onto him for a few days. And it's as close as I can get to asking about the other night. I just cannot bring myself to ask if you meant what you said, especially if I had dreamt that part too. I don't want things to be awkward. This is basically like an indirect confession, and I'm not sure I'm even ready for that much._

The next time Kevin visits, Edd's fever was breaking, so he stayed with him for a few hours as he sweated it out, trying to keep Edd as comfortable as possible.

After that, each of Kevin's visit included more and more conversation, until mid-day Monday, when he found Edd working on that worksheet for their US Government class.

"If you go grab your homework, we can work on it together."

It took Kevin a few seconds before he ran to get his homework, since he was distracted by Hops sitting on the desk, on the other side of Edd's homework. When Kevin returned, Hops was no longer there, but it didn't take him long to spot him tucked into Edd's made bed.

_Dork probably moved him to make room for our studies… or maybe he didn't want me to see him using Hops outside of sick naps. _

After they complete all the assignments, Kevin returns home for the day, saying he'll see him at school tomorrow.

As he was vacuuming the living room after dinner, his last chore for the day, he spots Ed skipping towards Edd's house, and starts to panic for a moment. He just realized he left Hops over there. He's worried that Ed will see Hops, ask too many questions, maybe even touch him.

Kevin turns off the vacuum, rushes to the front door, and watches the interaction, unsure if his sudden presence will make the situation worse or not. However, Ed doesn't enter the house. He only hands something to Edd, says a few words with exaggerated gestures, then leaves. Kevin shakes his head at himself for being so paranoid, but a part of him still wants to go retrieve Hops right now.

When he returns to his room and sees that he still has Edd's house keys, he decided to grab his bag and go get Hops, all under the guise of "Oh, I still had your keys, and while I'm here…"

Kevin knocks on the door, shouting, "Hey, Edd, it's Kevin! I'm coming in!" as he unlocks the door. As he kicks his shoes off, he sees that Edd is downstairs on the couch, watching the television, and nods to him.

Edd gestures for him to come over, so Kevin goes. As he reaches the couch, he glances over at the television, and realizes that Ed must have dropped off some C-rate monster movie for Edd. He then looks back down at Edd, who has clearly recently showered and changed, and looking like his old self again as he continues to eat some soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.

"I came to bring back your keys," Kevin said, placing them on the coffee table. "You look like you're feeling better."

"Oh, I am. Still a little stuffy but I'm right as rain for the most part."

"That's good…" Kevin trails off, noticing Hops propped up on a pillow next to Edd. Apparently Edd had set him there as if he were watching the movie as well and needed a booster seat.

Kevin smiled to himself, a sudden urge to ask Edd about the other night, wondering _will it even be worth it? Or will I just make things awkward? It really did seem like it was just a part of the dream. Maybe I should let things be, since everything seems to be going good and-_

"Care to join me?" Edd said, gesturing to the seat next to him.

"Sure!"

Kevin drops his bookbag, the one he meant to carry Hops home in, but doesn't take the seat that Edd gestured to. Instead, he goes around to the other side and picks up Hops (not without looking over to see if the blinds were drawn first). Kevin sits down next to Edd, after moving Hops' pillow seat, and places the bunny on his lap, with his hand draped across it.

Edd looks between Hops and Kevin, and grins, before returning to his dinner.

Kevin waits until Edd finished his meal and sits back, before he slowly snakes his other arm around Edd. Edd doesn't protest, but instead scoots closer, minimizing the gap between them.

Maybe Kevin didn't dream that part about Edd being jealous after all. Just maybe.

The End.


End file.
